I was doing a bit of interest research for an upcoming journal and ran across something that I never would have thought to exist...

A poem about coins.

I'm sure that there are countless of other poems that involve coins in some way. But I've never read a poem that venerates the actual art of the coin.

Maybe you've seen this before. It's pretty old; first published at the turn of the 20th century. But it's a new discovery for me.

A Cabinet of Greek Coins

BEHOLD portrayed in miniature, yet clear,

The changing seasons of Hellenic art;

Fair spring-time, when dim haunting visions start

Forth into life, and forms divine appear;

Full, radiant summer, when a heaven-born skill

Achieves such height as man ne'ermore can gain;

Dear autumn of decay, wherein remain

Mere phantoms which a glimmering twilight fill.

Here too the Olympic pantheon displays

Pure, grand ideals of each dreaded god,

Or cherished goddess, or loved nymph enshrined.

With likeness too of many a king whose nod

Could empires shake. Thus various-hued we find

A rich emblazonry of ancient days.

---Frank Sherman Benson

Ok, I didn't say it was the best thing since Shakespeare. In fact, I flat-out hate this type of poetry, where conveying the message takes a backseat to impressing academics with fancy words and metrical structure. I just never imagined anyone writing verse about coins.

This poem was an opening to a volume of Mr. Frank S. Benson's self-published work on Grecian numismatics simply titled Ancient Greek Coins; published 1901 -- 02. Mr. Benson was an active member of the American Numismatic Society (not to be confused with the American Numismatic Association) who frequently gave talks and wrote for the American Journal of Numismatics. This poem was republished in the American Journal of Numismatics at least once in 1903.

As mentioned, I came across this during some research for an upcoming journal. There, I will attempt to compile a complete list of important and notable pedigrees and names attached to certified Roosevelt dimes, as well as some of the things I've learned about them.

Until then,

Mr. Smith Guesser

Reference:

Ancient Greek Coins, Volume II, Parts X -- V, by Frank Sherman Benson, 1901 -- 1902: http://outside-affiliatelinksnotallowed.com/la36hrw

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